Sorry to come up short here, Andrew Robinson did the S8 review, and FWIW he's kept them in a really nice two channel rig. From what I understand they are really nice but I have no first hand experience with them so I can't compare the two.

As always, listen for yourself with material you are familiar with and decide what sounds best to you.

Ok, I've auditioned the Mythos ST system for the third time. For me it's a tossup between the Paradigm Studio Reference system you reviewed a few months ago and the Mythos ST system you're currently reviewing.

For the Mythos ST system, I would have a pair of the ST's as surrounds as well as mains. For the Paradigm system, I don't know if I would do another pair of 100 v4's (but I love the idea!).

Where I feel the Paradigm system is slightly better is the center channel speaker, the CC690 vs the Mythos Ten. It's hard to explain but there seems to be tad more weight, depth, bass, nice midrange. The Mythos had those qualities as well as being very clear, precise, neutral, dynamic, but maybe it's tonally not quite as natural sounding as the CC690.

My use for my HT system would be between 80-90% home theater. I like the height and powered subs of the Mythos ST's for surrounds, but everytime I read you Paradigm review which is more geared for home theater, I salivate a lot more.

I was going to order Paradigm yesterday, but then I got into this roadblock of either having the ADP590's or another pair of 100 v4's as the surround speakers. The dealer was not that helpful and was steering me towards another pair of 100 v4's (I got the impression he had $ signs in his thoughts as we talked, I don't know).

You've had both systems, for strictly home theater would you agree the Paradigms would not be a mistake? Also, what are your thoughts with the ADP590 vs the 100 v4's as surrounds. The 590's are quite expensive and small compared with the cc690 and 100s and with the modest discount the dealer is giving me, I could get another pair of the 100 v4's for an additional grand.

I value your advice and I really like your reviews. You make people like me want to audition speakers and equipment they wouldn't necessarily consider. well done.

I listened to both the Mythos ST system and the Studio 100 system and I ended up choosing the Paradigms. I mean in the past 3-4 weeks I've listened to B&W and KEF as well as the Definitive Technologies and Paradigms (Studio 100s & Signature S8s). I made out pretty well on the Studios, got 20% off the MSRP before the price increase and also got 24 months no interest on Studio 100s and the CC690. In no way do I feel I'm missing out on anything by passing on the Mythos STs or any of the others. I felt that the Studios had everything. The looks, the performance and were priced right. I wish they looked a little more like the S8s as far as having Laminate instead of real wood veneer but for the price I simply cannot complain.

Got the Studios home last night and I'm just running them in before really doing any serious listening as the manual suggests. So far from what I hear out of them my mind has not changed at all. Certainly an improvement over my 13 year old Cerwin Vega AT12s. They look as impressive as they sound too. Standing tall and proud on either side of my T.V. I highly doubt I'm going to find any reason to be disappointed in them, I've got ten days to decide if I want to keep them or return them to the store.

So far I could not be happier. I was almost going to make the leap to the S8s but after back to back listening I felt that the sound of the S8s was not impressive enough over the Studios for me to justify spending that much more money. I know the S8s are better but not enough for me to make the commitment.

I did think the Mythos STs were slightly more clear sounding than the Studios but then again I heard each of them in different stores and being run by different amps so that all has an effect. I personally liked the look of the Studios over the Mythos and liked the Studio center channel better as well.

I don't know if any of my ramblings will help your cause but I wish you luck in choosing something you'll be very happy with overall.

Congrats on your Paradigms! What surround speaker are you using with your setup?

My Paradigm dealer offered me the same discount as you got before the price increase as well. The Definitive Tech dealer offered me a much better discount, but then again the Mythos ST's are $2000 each and I was wanting the same setup that kennyt reviewed where he had a pair of ST's as his mains and a pair of ST's as surrounds. I was salivating over that arrangement.

I almost ordered the Paradigms yesterday, but hit a roadblock when I was wondering about getting the ADP590s as surrounds or getting another pair of the 100 v4's as surrounds. The 590's are fairly small speakers and are expensive. I could get another pair of 100's for $1000 more. So I hesitated and read posts by Paradigm owners who had the surrounds and others who had the 100's as surrounds.

Brought home 2 black 100s and a rosenut CC-690. The reason for the color differences is that I wanted the 100s in rosenut but the dealer didn't have the 100s in stock in rosenut. He did have the center in rosenut however. As with most stores that have to special order anything they won't take the special ordered item back once it's been opened. I wanted to have the ability to bring them back if I was not happy for any reason so I worked it out with the dealer to bring home the black 100s he had in stock and the rosenut center he also had in stock. The dealer is allowing me to test run these to make sure I'm happy and if I am he'll order the 100s in rosenut for me. He's also allowing me to use the black ones until mine come in. If I end up not being happy for any reason however I will be charged a restocking fee because they have to now sell the black 100s as open items. I will not be charged the restocking fee if I am happy and have the rosenut 100s ordered. This is a pretty good dealer I'm working with. When I listened to the B&W 703s at a different dealer, that dealer told me he wasn't so sure he could let me take a pair home then bring them back but did offer me a nice discount on a pair of floor models.

I was using BOSE 201 model speakers as surrounds with my Cerwin Vega fronts and Intimus 10" front firing sub. My center channel was a small (compared to the CC-690) Cerwin Vega as well. The BOSE 201s functioned perfectly in that capacity so since I just recently purchased a Yamaha RX-V3800 and now purchased the Studio set up I thought to save a few bucks I'd keep the sub and surrounds for now and upgrade at a later time. After paying off my recent purchases most likely. If I can wait that long that is.

You've had both systems, for strictly home theater would you agree the Paradigms would not be a mistake? Also, what are your thoughts with the ADP590 vs the 100 v4's as surrounds. The 590's are quite expensive and small compared with the cc690 and 100s and with the modest discount the dealer is giving me, I could get another pair of the 100 v4's for an additional grand.

I value your advice and I really like your reviews. You make people like me want to audition speakers and equipment they wouldn't necessarily consider. well done.

Jimmy

Jimmy,

Sorry for the late reply, thread got lost on me!

The Paradigm is a greta HT system, and if I had to differentiate between the Def Tech and Paradigm, I would slightly prefer the Paradigm's for movies, the Def Tech's for music. This is my own taste however, as I prefer movies to have a little more forward sound as it seems to be more involving for me, with music, which I often play louder than movies, sometimes, depending on what I am listening to that forwardness can get fatiguing to my ears.

Now, as far as using Studio 100's for surrounds? You are an animal! I am all for identical speakers for fronts and surrounds, but quite frankly often it is just not possible, especially with large fronts like the 100's. Those speaker do need some space behind them to breath and really bring out their bass response, but if you have the room and the cash, it would be great. Now for the rear surrounds, you could go hog wild and get a third pair of 100's, or something smaller (hehehehehheeee).

When we spoke to the guys @ Def Tech about reviewing the ST's, they asked what system I would like and I told them four of the ST towers and a center. Even they sort of stepped back and said 'wow, that would be one hell of a system' and they were right, it is!